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How safe are your kids online?

A cyber safety evening will be held in Dunboyne Castle on Monday, 27th February, from 8pm to 10pm.

As the online world becomes an increasingly prominent and important part of the lives of today's children and teenagers, ensuring and understanding their safety online is a subject very close to parents' hearts. While many parents and guardians feel they understand cyber safety, there is a great deal more to know. In a bid to shed some light on the risks, including bullying, that can be found online and ways to avoid them Fine Gael TD for Meath East, and Minister of State at the Department of An Taoiseach, Regina Doherty, is urging parents and guardians of children and teenagers to attend a cyber safety public meeting at which she has invited Psychotherapist and Author and RTE Agony Uncle, Enda Murphy, to speak. Minister Doherty said “As a parent of four children myself, I am all too aware of the many risks that the digital age in which we live in pose to our young people. The pace at which technology is advancing is at a rate of knots all the while our children have 24 hour access to the internet with relative ease.

“There are many, many unknowns out there and it is vitally important that we are fully aware of the threats posed to our children and teenagers every day.

New research released by the National Anti-Bullying Research and Resource Centre at Dublin City University on Monday, the day before Safer Internet Day, shows that 14% of primary school children and 10% of post-primary school children have been cyberbullied.

“These figures took me by surprise and sheds greater light on the need for us as parents, guardians and even weekend babysitters, to inform ourselves as to what is out there and what ‘screen boundaries’ we need to set with our children" Minister Doherty said.

"Cyberbullying is more often than not a silent predator; knowledge, communication and oversight is more important now than ever. One thing is for sure today – what goes online says online and is there forever.”